Top Caller Collmus Returns To Booth For Del Mar Fall Meet

For the fourth year in a row, top racing announcer Larry Collmus will be back in the booth at Del Mar to call the track's upcoming Bing Crosby Season from Nov. 10 to Dec. 3, their front office said in a release Friday.

Besides his three earlier fall sojourns, Collmus also covered the limited 2020 summer season at the track.

“We really couldn't ask for anyone better than Larry to be filling our booth in the planned absence of our longstanding caller Trevor Denman,” said Josh Rubinstein, Del Mar's president and COO. “He brings terrific energy to his role here, both behind the mic and on the social media scene. To top it all off, he tells us he just loves calling races at Del Mar.”

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Del Mar Fall Meet Kicks off Oct. 31

Del Mar’s seventh Bing Crosby fall race meeting, which begins Saturday Oct. 31 for its 15-day run and continues through Sunday, Nov. 29, will offer 16 stakes races, headed by the GI Hollywood Derby Nov. 28 and GI Matriarch S. Nov. 29. Nine of the track’s fall stakes will be run on its Jimmy Durant Turf Course.

Following its Saturday/Sunday opening weekend, the track will settle into a Friday-through-Sunday format for the following three weeks, then close things out with a four-day finish starting on Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 26.

The track will continue its emphasis on the safety of its horses and riders. Its extensive program of enhanced procedures and protocols include additional veterinarian oversight, a panel of experts that scrutinizes all horse entries and overriding analyses of medications and workout routines for its horses. As was the case during recently concluded summer meet, the track will operate its fall season under stringent COVID-19 protocols, including daily health screenings for all employees and essential personnel. It will have medical professionals onsite and require both the wearing of face masks and social distancing. In accordance with state and local guidelines, racing again will be conducted without fans in attendance.

“Safety is on our menu from start to finish,” said Del Mar Thoroughbred Club’s CEO Joe Harper. “If you start with safety, everything else just flows. And not only will we again have safe racing, but we’ll once more have the best racing in the country throughout our stand, something racing fans are going to love to watch.”

First post throughout the season will be 12:30 p.m. on all days with the exception of Thanksgiving Day, which gets an 11 a.m. start. Live cards will also be presented on both Breeders’ Cup days at Keeneland Nov. 6 and Nov. 7.

For the complete stakes schedule, visit www.dmtc.com

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Del Mar’s First Condition Book Now Available; Purses Increased 10%

Del Mar has announced the release of its first condition book for the upcoming Bing Crosby Season at the San Diego County, Calif., track, an eight-day book that will cover the first half of the 15-day session, which runs for Saturday, Oct. 31 to Sunday, Nov. 29.

This is the seaside track's seventh fall season, annually a short-but-sweet run that has become the foremost late-year meeting in the country.

“Our fall meet has just gotten better and better as we've gone along,” said Del Mar's racing secretary David Jerkens. “We're again putting the emphasis on the two things that have worked very well for us in the recent past — turf racing and 2-year-olds. This first book will get our horsemen through the initial three weekends, then we'll be out with a 7-day one that will take us to the finish.”

The condition book is now available on-line at www.dmtc.com/horsemen/condition-book. Hard copies also are being distributed at racing centers throughout California.

The track will offer 16 stakes worth $2,250,000 during the stand, with nine of them run on its Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Additionally, its overnight purses – already among the highest in the nation – will rise by 10% across the board this fall making a good thing even better for its horsemen.

Among its stakes offerings are nine graded events, topped by the Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds on Saturday, Nov. 28 and the Grade 1, $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for older fillies and mares on Sunday, Nov. 29. Both are run on turf.

Further, there will be six stakes for juvenile runners, including a pair of graded grass miles.

The stakes lineup with its turf emphasis has drawn a stellar sprinkling of top-line horses from across the country previously and more of the same is expected in 2020.

Racing will be conducted on Saturday and Sunday to open the session, then Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the following three weeks. It will finish with a four-day week kicked off by the Thursday, Nov. 26, Thanksgiving holiday.

First post will be 12:30 PT daily with the exception of Thanksgiving Day when there will be an early 11 a.m. post.

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